Mr. and Mrs. Mawakasunga and Uncle Floyd and Mr. Konde and Mrs. Potato Head were out on the front porch talking about something for church while Elizabeth and Barabas and Sam are having fun running around in Elizabeth’s back yard in the dark.  First they played statues.  Have you ever played statues?  First, you decide a category like Olympic sports or ballerina, then you take a person by their arm and swing them around a few times, then you let them go flying and they must hold the position they land in until they are judged on how much like look like a statue of that category.  It’s fun!

Then they played “Let’s be scared!”  So Elizabeth called out “Oh no!  It’s a one eyed, one horned, flying, purple people eater!”  Then the three of them ran around and screamed, but not real loud, and pretended to be scared. 

Then Barabas said “Run!  It’s is an army of medieval warriors coming on horseback!”  And they all ran around and screamed again.

Then Sam said “Help!  We are in a ship and it is sinking.”  And they pretended to be drowning.  Glug, glug!

Then they lay down on the cool, damp grass and they talked about school starting and listened to the crickets and saw an occasional lightening bug and watched for falling stars and then it grew quiet and each of them, after a very busy and active day, relaxed and fell asleep under the waning moon in Elizabeth’s back yard.  The grown-ups were still talking on the front porch.  It was a perfect summer evening!

At least, it seemed to be so.  Maybe you remember that Barabas is afraid of the water and even though he took swimming lessons he still is afraid to go into deep water.  So when Barabas fell asleep, his mind went back to the “Let’s be scared” game and he was in a ship and it was sinking!  In the dream he ran up and down the decks looking for Uncle Floyd but there were only strangers rushing past him, paying no heed to his cries for help!  Barabas was out of breath and exhausted and scared!  And then in a sudden lurch, in his dream, the ship listed so far starboard that it flipped Barabas overboard and no one saw and he was alone in the deep dark waters drowning!

“MMMMMMM!” Barabas said, but his mouth couldn’t make the word.  “MMMMMMM!” he tried again.  It woke up Sam and Elizabeth and they saw that Barabas must be having a nightmare.  Then Barabas shouted right out loud “HELP!” and it woke him up and he looked scared.

“Awwww!” said Elizabeth with her hand patting his shoulder.  “It was just a dream! You are okay.  I promise!”  Sam just looked awkward and wondered what to do.

Barabas knew it was just a dream, but now he was also remembering the time in real life that he really did fall into the water two summers ago when he and Uncle Floyd were out in their canoe.  And it was night time.  And Barabas remembered how when he went under the water that everything went into slow motion and all grew quiet and while he was under water he looked up and saw the moon.  He had never told Elizabeth and Sam about this.  But here in the quiet of the night, in the dark he told them. 

“I thought I was going to die.  But when I saw the moon I knew it was Jesus telling me which way was up to the top of the water.  And then I just came up to the top and Uncle Floyd pulled me into the shore and he built a big campfire.”

You know, that night that Barabas went under the water for real, there was no moon, because the sky was dark with clouds.  Perhaps it was Uncle Floyd’s white undershirt stretched over his big belly that looked like the moon, or perhaps it was Jesus showing the moon to Barabas.  I wonder!?

Today’s lesson says “Everyone who calls on the name of our Lord Jesus shall be saved.”  Romans 10:13   THE END

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